Ford Escape Mazda Tribute Maintenance and Repair

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I have a 2001 Ford Escape, 129,000 miles. Everyday when I start the car is has to be warmed up for at least 5 minutes or it will stall when I am not applying gas to it. I took it to the mechanic and he says everything is fine.. the alternator light is on but the fluids are fine. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

I apologize for the long reply but I think it is important information.I bought a 2001 Escape for my daughter. Although it had 150K miles it was in excellent condition. It really wasn't the vehicle that I wanted to buy for her though but it was what she wanted so what can a father do, lol. The next day after buying it the engine light came on. Then it started having issues, mainly at cold idle. By the end of the first year I had replaced every sensor, coils, etc. At times it would seems to be fixed but it never lasted more than a few days or weeks. Because of the problems with the Escape I now own many electronic tools for diagnosing vehicle problems including being able to connect the car computer to a laptop and read everything that is going on. But the one thing I finally found that was most likely the main problem all along was the gaskets in the intake manifold. Actually, I took it to a local garage and they found that those gaskets were leaking. They were rubber o-ring gaskets and were baked hard. They leaked more when cold so once the engine got hot it ran pretty good. So I was really excited when they fixed it, but!, a couple days later and the problem was back! I decided to pull the manifold to see just what they had done. I found the new o-rings were installed but looking at the manifold I realized it was like a hi-rise spacer so there was going to be another set of gaskets under it. I pulled it off and there was an identical set of o-rings gaskets and they hadn't replaced them! I should have taken the Escape back, they charged $127 to put a $3 set of gaskets on top and didn't bother with the bottom ones which turns out were probably worse than the top ones had been. I replaced those and finally, the Escape was running great.I also want to point out that I had taken this vehicle to a Ford dealership and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.And I also want to mention one more thing I found wrong with the Escape. Quite some time after fixing the gasket leaks, maybe 2 years, my daughter started complaining about how it was acting up at times. It would randomly quit running but then start right up. Once again I could not find nothing wrong. I had all kinds of false engine codes which led to me swapping some of the old sensors with new sensors and what not trying to track the problem down. I was really getting concerned that it was going to cause her to be in a bad accident. One morning I went out to take another look, I was out of ideas and really frustrated. While it was idling I started lightly hitting things around the engine compartment and pulling on wire harnesses. I pulled on the main harness going to the computer and the engine stalled. A few more times and it quit running. Started back up, pulled on it and it did it again. It turns out that one of the wires, right at the plug to the computer was broken inside the insulation. With so many wires I don't know how I was lucky enough to find it as easy as I did. But it seemed to have a little kink in it. It was a 12 volt red wire. I repaired the break and really have not worked on the Escape now for a year or more, maybe 2 years except for normal oil changes and such. One thing, what was happening with the broke wire is that the engine will move back and forth slightly when breaking or accelerating and it was pulling on that wire just enough to make it quit running, or sometimes just misfire, etc. And it was sending out all kinds of false engine codes. Hope this helps. I have been through it this vehicle and can't believe how many Escapes are out there with so many problems. And with all I have been through I can't help but believe that many of the problems people are having is being caused by the baked o-ring gasket. Check them out if you haven't. Get a Chilton manual which will explain in detail how to remove the manifold. It really is an easy job to perform and it the gaskets are baked, it is less than $10 to replace them. :shades:

Most likely the idle air control (IAC) valve which is right smack on the top of the engine in the center right under the hood. My 2003 Escape suffered from periodically being unable to idle for 4 years with Ford charging me hundreds of dollars each time I took it in and telling me they couldn't find anything wrong. This problem does not "throw a code". Finally after reading this forum, I took it to a recommended independent mechanic and told him to change the IAC. Problem solved!

Many thanks for the response, I've a very limited knowledge when it comes to car however, the noise appears to be coming from underneath the drivers seats, on looking under the car I've notice the exhaust is the other side of the car so I don't think its that. It sounds like metal on metal, is a quick rattle and is more prominent when the car is first started, at slower speeds and at about 1800-2000RPM. It will do it when stationary at lights, and if I take it out of gear it will stop. Most frustrating!Thanks again.Stuart

Trust me - from the description, it is 99% likely that I'm right. It may sound like it's coming from a different location - but if you're sitting in the passenger seat, it probably sounds like it's coming from under there. Have the exhaust pipe checked - bet I'm right.

This is my first use of this forum. My car (Ford Escape 2005, 3L) ran 5 miles per hour, and took to autoshop. The shop told me that the car needs to replace all three catalytic converters (two front ones and one rear one). My car has 110,000 miles. It cost $4200 (parts (3100) and labor(1100) ). Seems like an obscene price. They told me that they will not use after-market catalytic converters which are about ($1400 for 3 cat coverters) coz the engine light will come out again. my understanding from them is that after market cat converters doesn't meet the requirements of FORD manufacturers. p.s. the autoshop took cat converters out, the car is running fine.

My questions are: 1) Has anyone tried to install after market cat converters and having problems again? 2)Was the check engine light still on after installing after market catalytic converters?

Any suggestions, past experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated.

2005 escape stalls when shifted into gear when on a run for an hour or more i sometimes pull in and stop my erscape engine stops , i can restart it but when shifting it into gear it stalls i have had it to several garages including the ford dealer and they can,t solve the problem solution sugestions i have got was a new battery, ot torque converter in tranny (dealer said it sounded like that was the answer ) but that,s a 1000 dollar suggestion and it may not be the problem . after sitting for awhile it will work just fine .but then the next time i drive it for an hr or more it will do it again ,this has happened 3 times now in the last 4 days any HELP will be appreciated may i add that when a code reader is used it displays no error codes

Finally after 3 stalls in the past week which coincided with temperature nearing 90, the check engine light came on. I took it to the Ford Dealership and said please check the Idle Air Control Valve as recommended by many members here as well as a mechanic at my job. Ford called us back and said that was the problem! Got the Escape back and hoping for a stall-less future!!!!

Wondering if you ever found the problem. This is hapening to me right now and your the first person that I have found with like issues. I know from your post this was a while ago. Any insight would be nice.

Hi, I'm going to look at a 2003 Escape with 3.0L engine and 165K miles that reportedly has a bad alternator. Most alternator change-outs for me on other vehicles have been relatively easy repair jobs. Why is this one so difficult? Thanks for your help--Dennis

My 2001 3.0L V6 Ford Escape Shake while in idle and while accelerating at about 45 - 55 mph. Sometimes I can speed up or slow down and it would stop. I only have this car to drive to college can you please help me ?

Frequently fails to start. Engine cranks but acts overchoked or vapor locked. IAC valve replaced twice, once because new part defective. Changed to different gas. No luck. Fuel pump OK. Only consistent fix is to remove gas cap, poke the vapor shutter to let in air, then start car.

I was driving and the radio shut off , It felt like the ac kicked in harder so i shut the ac off and radio came back on , Turned ac on radio shut off. So I parked , Before I shut off the vehicle the ac was barely blowing radio would not turn on. So I shut it off, When I try to start at all I get is a constant clicking, as if the battery was dead. But I have only had this escape 3 days, I have had no problems at all, this just all the sudden happened.

Mechanic disconnected evaporative emissions canister. Apparently valve is stuck. Car starts and runs just fine now, but CHECK ENGINE light is always on. This is to be expected. The canister will have to be repaired/replaced

My 2007 Ford Escape dies while in Drive when I come to a complete stop, starts up fine but have to give it gas while putting car into drive so it wont die again. Ive been putting the car in neutral while at lights and stop signs to avoid the car from dying. help please!~!